WiFi Access and Bandwidth

LeHah

212 Squadron - "The Old Man's Eyes And Ears"
Though this is a tech issue, it's not WC, so I'm putting it here.

Basically, my living arrangements mean I share an Internet connection and by and large this is not a problem. I'm really the only one who uses it. However, I found out this kid is coming by later this week and every time he visits (we're talking a month), my connection goes to crap and I often can't do anything on the internet. He sucks up all the bandwidth so I'm forced to reboot the router every night, sometimes two or three times. I'm assuming that, because of his age, he's torrenting a ton of files with no regard for anyone else.

Basically, I want to limit his bandwidth. I already played around with the QoS settings on the Linksys WRT54GS and limited things like restricting websites and searches for files that end in certain extensions. However, I'd really like to just choke his bandwidth down so he can use the Internet and nothing more than YouTube.

This is a little out of my jurisdiction. I was never good at network stuff, so I'm asking people here for suggestions. And if you can, write them out like like I'm an idiot. Because I am when it comes to this kinda stuff.
 
I don't know what kind options that router has. Some approaches (easy to hard?) that may help if it is torrent traffic:
- disabling UPnP will cripple his torrent speeds and probably won't affect you personally.
- prioritize by traffic type in the QoS settings. Default priority: low, anything you use (like HTTP): medium or high.
- limit his maximum upload speed to 20-30% of your modem's capacity. If he's maxing out your upstream bandwidth, that can cause a general sluggishness. Ideally you can do this for his IP address or MAC address only. You probably don't need much upload, so even a global cap for the short time he's around wouldn't be so bad.
- block all ports besides 80, 443, 53?

Or:
- just block his MAC address altogether and if he says he can't go online just act like you don't have a clue.
- tell him you have a record of everything he's downloaded and you're going to post it on his facebook wall for everyone to see.
 
I can only assume its torrent traffic. I don't see him doing Guild Wars 2 on a 7 year old laptop.

Would disabling UPnP also affect my using Xbox Live, PSN or Netflix Streaming? And would limiting the DHCP users to 1 block him out?
 
Limiting DHCP wouldn't help if he is smart enough to set a static IP, and potentially you could end up locking yourself out if he got a DHCP address first. MAC filtering is probably the way to go if you want to block him completely. I'm not familiar with Linksys options so I don't know what else you might be able to do though.
 
Torrent traffic has the strange urge to use cause time-outs to other clients, and i know your problem here.. however you are in luck, the WRT54 series has lots and lots of custom firmware giving it more capabilities, like managing bandwith and advanced routing.
Try DD-WRT or openwrt to update and customizze the settings.

Torrent will re-route, piggyback on other ports, etc. etc. You'll need to look up his system's mac-adress from his laptop in the router and apply some restrictions on that. I don't have a WRT54 handy anymore at the moment, so you'll need to consort the guys on the openwrt or dd-wrt discussion boards to help you out with that.

Ofcourse, you will be performing updates to the router's software itself...
 
Where do I find the device log / recent users log on the router?
 
And yes, blocking his MAC is easily done, like other suggested, but if it's done on a shared internet connection is it okay you deny him the usage of it?
 
And yes, blocking his MAC is easily done, like other suggested, but if it's done on a shared internet connection is it okay you deny him the usage of it?

I'd honestly not like to block him completely, just prevent him from hogging the bandwidth.

But I'm willing to keep all options open. This guy's usage is so bad I literally cannot use anything on the network when he's here.
 
The routers logs would be very limited. I usually find my way from knowing where to look, but first make sure the web interface is in "advanced user" mode, or whatever it's equivalent is..

Edit: DD-WRT firmware supports bandwith throttling and limiting per connection. Make sure the firmware is the correct one for the specific router(DD-WRT website offers help).
 
DD-WRT is superb, but if someone is on here asking these kinds of questions, installing it may not be for them...
 
I've read enough about firmware installs on routers to know enough that it's not for me
 
Why not ask him what he is doing and explain how its sucking up the broadband? Easier than messing with a router. Or forge a cease and decist letter to scare the crap out of him >:)
 
Or just tell you him you were charged for excess bandwidth consumption after his last visit, and if you catch him torrenting again he'll be kicked off the connection.

Or just insist that he act responsibly and throttle down bit torrent while he's using your connection. If he's like half the people I know, he'll find it actually downloads faster when throttled back, since it has a tendency to choke its own connections otherwise.
 
That would require him to be around. He tends to just leave his computer running and he's off around town until the wee morning light.
 
He tends to just leave his computer running and he's off around town until the wee morning light.

That's why the good Lord invented lock-picks and dynamite. ;):D (There really needs to be a devil emoticon on these boards - just saying)

Or, if you're trying to be more passive-aggressive/less damaging/unwilling to risk an encounter with Homeland Security, forgo the dynamite and just let a three-year old toddler loose on the thing...I've had to do a full system restore more than once thanks to mine.
 
For right now, I'm going to hope what little I did allows us both to use the damn connection and neither of us hogging it. And if that doesn't work, I'll just have confront him on it.

I'll let you guys know. Or, uh, the lack of me on here & IRC will be telling. Both are possible.
 
If he's hogging the bandwidth, have a chat with him and his parents - because you're going to be held responsible for what he downloads. Remember all those RIAA and MPAA lawsuits? It'll be *you* getting the letter and having to show up in court or paying the settlement.

If you can put up with the inconvenience, disable the WiFi and use a wired connection. If he wants on, he can get on a short wired connection as well, leaving his laptop out in the open.
 
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